Bond yields edge up once again ahead of weekly bills auction

Wednesday, 24 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Wealth Trust Securities

The secondary bond market yields traded within a narrow range yesterday subsequent to edging up in morning hours of trading ahead of today’s weekly Treasury bill auction. At the auction, a total amount of Rs. 25 billion will be on offer, consisting of Rs. 3 billion of the 91 day bill, Rs. 4 billion of the 182 day bill and a further Rs. 18 billion of the 364 day bill maturity. At last week’s auction, the weighted averages decreased across the board by 10, 12 and 08 basis points to 7.99%, 8.09% and 8.46% on the 91 day, 182 day and 364 day maturities respectively.

In the secondary bond market, yields on the liquid maturities of 2021s (i.e. 15.10.21 & 15.12.21) and 2024s (i.e. 15.03.24, 15.06.24 & 01.08.24) were seen increasing to intraday highs of 9.03%, 9.00%, 9.80%, 9.85% and 9.95% respectively while buying interest at these levels curtailed any further upward movement to trade within a narrow range. Furthermore, activity was also witnessed on the maturities of 15.03.22, 01.08.25 and 15.01.27 at levels of 9.10%, 9.98% to 10.00% and 10.00% respectively.

The total secondary market Treasury bond/bill transacted volumes for 22 July was Rs. 8.16 billion.

In money markets, the overnight call money and repo rates averaged 7.80% and 7.87% respectively as the overnight net liquidity surplus stood at Rs. 40.04 billion yesterday.

Rupee dips to Rs. 176

In the Forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts depreciated further to close the day at a low of Rs. 176.00/10 against its previous day’s closing level of Rs. 175.90/05 on the back of continued importer demand.

The total USD/LKR traded volume for 22 July was $56.15 million.

Some forward USD/LKR rates that prevailed in the market were: 1 month - 176.60/70; 3 months - 177.85/00; 6 months - 179.90/10.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.